Paella .... Make Ahead

[gulfporter]

We are doing a moveable feast in the neighborhood.  I am doing the main course and plan to make paella.  

 

My recipe is not authentic, but it is one that always pleases the masses; it is Pierre Franey's recipe from one of his 60 Minute Gourmet Cookbooks.  

 

The recipe is basically: Saute skin-on bone-in thighs and sausage chunks separately, then add onions/sweet peppers and saute as well.  Then these items are added to a large pot with raw rice, stock, canned tomatoes and seasonings.  It is cooked stovetop, covered for 20-30 minutes until the rice is tender and chicken cooked through.   Then the raw shrimps are added with frozen peas and simmered for 8-10 minutes covered until the shrimps are done.   I turn up the heat when I add the shrimp to form a socarrat.  

 

We will start the meal at a nearby neighbors for drinks and appetizers and I neither want to leave the group too early, nor make the guests wait too long at my house before being served the paella.  There are 2 other houses after mine (one for dessert and another for digestivos/coffee).  I don't want to slow down the feast;  we have done others where they have lasted too long since there is some walking in-between each home in addition to the eating time for each course.  

 

My plan is to make the paella up to the cooking of the rice then park it until the group comes to our home to eat.  At that time I will blast the heat under the paella, then add the shrimps and peas for the 8-10 minutes final cooking and hopefully develop a socarrat.  

 

Will that work???  Cautions???  Will the rice get overcooked...should I undercook it a bit before the rest period??  Should I park it tightly covered, or lid ajar?  I think the chicken will benefit from the rest period when we are elsewhere eating an appetizer (est. 20-30 minutes), but am a little worried about the rice.  I don't cook rice very often.  

Edited January 27, 2019 by gulfporter (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As it happens paella is on tonight's menu here.  Precook your meats.  I would not precook the rice.  There is a saying "The guests will wait for the rice, the rice will not wait for the guests."  I cheat and steam-bake the thighs an hour at 300F then add them near the end.

 

It sounds like your recipe is more like a Portuguese paella, which from my limited experience is moister and would not expect a socarrat.

 

[heidih]

When our local superstar chef Bernard Ibarra was doing paella at the farmers market which runs for 4 hours it looked like he brought cooked meats, par-cooked rice, and and raw veg; then fired up on an intense gas burner in batches as needed. No covering. The smell would draw you away from your favorite vendor to get some before it sold out.  https://www.tastewiththeeyes.com/2014/03/meet-terranea-resorts-executive-chef-bernard-ibarra/